The Good Earth

The Good Earth. Pearl S. Buck. Howard Publishing Co. 1931.418 pages. Audio library.

First line: It was Wang Lung's marriage day.

Plot: This tells the poignant tale of a Chinese farmer and his family in old agrarian China. The humble Wang Lung glories in the soil he works, nurturing the land as it nurtures him and his family. Nearby, the nobles of the House of Hwang consider themselves above the land and its workers; but they will soon meet their own downfall.

Hard times come upon Wang Lung and his family when flood and drought force them to seek work in the city. The working people riot, breaking into the homes of the rich and forcing them to flee. When Wang Lung shows mercy to one noble and is rewarded, he begins to rise in the world, even as the House of Hwang falls.

My Thoughts: Sometimes it's hard for me to wrap my mind around a culture that is so completely different from my own.  When Wang goes to marry his wife whom he has never met or courted he seems alright with his choice considering his status in life is but a farmer.  She works next to (behind really) him at all times on the farm.  She prepared meals and kept the home.  A better wife you would be hard pressed to find.  Until Wang's social status changes after coming into a lot of money.  He starts visiting a brothel.  After a while becomes discontent with his wife and moves in a mistress taken from the brothel.  

After some pour life choices Wang's life begins to fall apart.  His sons don't live up to his expectations.  I can't say that I felt sorry for him by the end of this story.  I don't know if I want to continue with the series yet or not.  Some of the content is for mature audiences so I would not recommend this for anyone under upper teens.

The Remains of the Day

The Remains of the Day.  Kazuo Ishiguro. Faber and Faber Publishing. May 1989.  258 pages.  Source: Audio Library

Plot: In the summer of 1956, Stevens, a long-serving butler at Darlington Hall, decides to take a motoring trip through the West Country. The six-day excursion becomes a journey into the past of Stevens and England, a past that takes in fascism, two world wars, and an unrealised love between the butler and his housekeeper.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this laid back story of the life of a butler as the end of an era was coming to a close.  I like to read books set in England and about the history of England even if it is fiction. 

Me After You

Me After You. Jojo Moyes. Penguin Books. September 2015. 352 Pages. Audio Library

First line: The big man at the end of the bar is sweating.

Plot:How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?
 
Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.
 
Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future. . . .
 
For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings. But here Jojo Moyes gives us two families, as real as our own, whose joys and sorrows will touch you deeply, and where both changes and surprises await.

My thoughts:  I loved this second book in this series!  Louisa Clark is such a good person and I felt a connection with her since the first book.  I did find her accident to be ironic.  I half expected her to be paralyzed like Will but I was wrong. When she begins to have feelings for Sam I found myself cheering her on.  Hoping she would fall in love and move on with her life.  She is torn between her love for him and doing something with her life.  Apparently she can't seem to do both at the same time.  I guess I will find out how this all ends in the next book... Still Me.  Which I can't wait for but I will because I'm on a wait list!

The Sound and The Fury

The Sound and The Fury.  William Faulkner. Published by Vintage.  First published 1954.  326 pages.  Source:  Audio library.

First Sentence: Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting.

Plot: The novel reveals the story of the disintegration of the Compson family, doomed inhabitants of Faulkner’s mythical Yoknapatawpha County, through the interior monologues of the idiot Benjy and his brothers, Quentin and Jason.

My thoughts:  This one was chosen for my classic club challenge.  I started it once but tabled it.  I pushed through it this time because I just had to.  Wow, there is enough disfunction in my life but to add this family just about made me go crazy! 

This is one messed up group of people.  It took me several chapters to even get the gist of what was going on.  Faulkner's writing style is not my idea of a good time.  Back and forth and who is narrating... Since the story is set in Mississippi the dialect was so very southern it difficult to take at times.

As you can tell I did not enjoy this book and don't really recommend it.  Especially for younger adults.  I only gave it 2 out of 5 stars on Good Reads.

Back to the Classics Challenge

Here I go again getting all excited about another year of reading challenges! Most of the books that I have stacked up to read this year could apply to this challenge.  A challenge which I have never completed!  So once again I am linking up with Books and Chocolate (isn't that the best combination ever?) to give it a go.  So HERE are the guidelines. 

THE CATEGORIES: 

1. 19th Century Classic. Any classic book originally published between 1800 and 1899.

The House of Seven Gables by Nathanial Hawthorne

2. 20th Century Classic. Any classic book originally published between 1900 and 1969. 

All books in this category must have been published at least 50 years ago. The only 

exceptions are  books that were published posthumously but were written at least 50 

years ago.  The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner 1/22/19

3. Classic by a Woman Author. Villette by Charlotte Bronte

4. Classic in Translation. Any classic originally written in a novel other than your native language. You may read the book in your native language, or its original language (or a third language for all you polyglots!) Modern translations are acceptable, as long as the book was originally published at least 50 years ago. Books in translation are acceptable in all other categories as well.  The Red and The Black by Stendhal (Translated from French)

5. Classic Comic Novel. Any comedy, satire, or humorous work. Humor is very subjective, so if you think Crime and Punishment is hilarious, go ahead and use it, but if it's a work that's traditionally not considered humorous, please tell us why in your post. Some classic comic novels: Cold Comfort Farm; Three Men in a Boat; Lucky Jim; and the works of P. G. Wodehouse.

6. Classic Tragic Novel. Tragedies traditionally have a sad ending, but just like the comedies, this is up for the reader to interpret. Examples include The Grapes of Wrath, House of Mirth, and Madame Bovary.

7. Very Long Classic. Any classic single work 500 pages or longer, not including introductions or end notes. Omnibus editions of multiple works do not count. Since page counts can vary depending on the edition, average the page count of various editions to determine the length. Middlemarch by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

8. Classic Novella. Any work of narrative fiction shorter than 250 pages. 

9. Classic From the Americas (includes the Caribbean). Includes classic set in either North or South America or the Caribbean, or by an author originally from one of those countries. Examples include Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (United States); Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (Jamaica); or One Hundred Years of Solitude (Columbia/South America). On The Road by Jack Kerouac

10. Classic From Africa, Asia, or Oceania (includes Australia). Any classic set in one of those continentss or islands, or by an author from these regions. Examples include Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt); The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki (Japan); On the Beach by Nevile Shute (Australia); Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Nigeria). 

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

11. Classic From a Place You've Lived. Read locally! Any classic set in a city, county, state or country in which you've lived, or by a local author. Choices for me include Giant by Edna Ferber (Texas); Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (Chicago); and Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann (Germany). 

12. Classic Play. Any play written or performed at least 50 years ago. Plays are eligible for this category only.

Top Ten Tuesday

I have decided to give this blog hop at That Artsy Reader Girl another go. I did pretty well with it some time back. You know when I was a regular blogger and did regular posts each day. 

This week we are to list the books that you wanted to read in 2018 but didn't.  This will be an easy one because I had high expectations for 2018 and fell very short. 

1. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
2. Longbourn by Jo Baker
3. Middlemarch by George Eliot
4. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
5. The Red and The Black by Stendhal (Maire Henri Beyle)
6. Villette by Charlotte Bronte
7. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
8. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
9. The House of Seven Gables by Nathaiel Hawthorne
10. At The Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft

Mostly a list of my Classics club challenge reads!  I have high expectations this year and hope to get these all read. Some are CHUNKSTERS!

The Witch's Daughter

The Witch's Daughter.  Paula Brackston. Thomas Dunne Books.  December 2008. 305 pages. Source: Audio library.

First Sentence: Bess ran.  The clear night sky and fat moon gave ample illumination for her flight.

Plot: My name is Elizabeth Anne Hawksmith, and my age is three hundred and eighty-four years. Each new settlement asks for a new journal, and so this Book of Shadows begins.
In the spring of 1628, the Witchfinder of Wessex finds himself a true Witch. As Bess Hawksmith watches her mother swing from the Hanging Tree she knows that only one man can save her from the same fate at the hands of the panicked mob: the Warlock Gideon Masters, and his Book of Shadows. Secluded at his cottage in the woods, Gideon instructs Bess in the Craft, awakening formidable powers she didn't know she had and making her immortal. She couldn't have foreseen that even now, centuries later, he would be hunting her across time, determined to claim payment for saving her life.

In present-day England, Elizabeth has built a quiet life for herself, tending her garden and selling herbs and oils at the local farmers' market. But her solitude abruptly ends when a teenage girl called Tegan starts hanging around. Against her better judgment, Elizabeth begins teaching Tegan the ways of the Hedge Witch, in the process awakening memories—and demons—long thought forgotten.

My thoughts:  I enjoyed this story of a young girl who was put in a position to either "become a witch" to escape burning or die for being one even though she was not.  

She lived saving lives working with herbs and medicines then into actual operating rooms and working as a Doctor in the earliest of times when this was not the norm for a woman to be practicing surgical procedures.  She tired to do nothing but good and not to use "magic" for crazy selfish things.  All her life as a witch was spent trying to hide from the warlock Gideon Masters.  Gideon loved her (or so he said) and pursued her for centuries.

Elizabeth (Bess) spent a lot of lonely years because she could not get close to anyone.  A life of mostly solitude.  

This is not a book promoting witchcraft.  I would recommend it to young adults as there are some light suggestive situations over the centuries.